A Leeds United executive who emailed pornographic images of women naked in the shower to a female receptionist at the club was rightly sacked, a judge has ruled.

Gwyn Williams, 66, was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct in July 2013, but had asked the High Court to award him up to £250,000 in compensation for breach of contract.

Mr Williams, who joined Leeds in August 2006 as technical director on a £200,000-a-year salary, plus benefits, claimed the email he sent to former Leeds manager Dennis Wise, Gus Poyet - now head coach of Sunderland - and receptionist Carol Lamb was part of a 'dirty Leeds' joke, referring to the club's reputation for heavy tackling in the 1970s.

Former Leeds United executive Gwyn Williams (pictured) was rightly sacked after he emailed pornographic images of women naked in the shower to a female receptionist, a judge has ruled

The former scout, who had discovered John Terry while he was working at Chelsea, had agreed that his conduct was inappropriate but argued it was not sufficiently serious to amount to a repudiatory breach of contract.

The email was sent in March 2008, the same year that Mr Williams spent one game as caretaker manager after Wise left the club in January of that year. Mr Poyet, who had been Mr Wise's assistant had left the previous October to take up a coaching role with Tottenham Hotspur.

But the message was not discovered for another five years and eight months, when the club was allegedly conducting a forensic examination to find a reason to justify not paying him his notice, Mr Williams told Mr Justice Lewis.

The message was discovered when Leeds were allegedly conducting a forensic examination to find a reason to justify not paying him his notice, Mr Williams told Mr Justice Lewis

On Thursday, the judge said that, taken as a whole, the images in the email were 'obscene and pornographic', and not common in professional football at the time.

'The photographs do more than than depict a group of muddy women showering,' Mr Justice Lewis said.

'They involve displays of female genitalia and breasts and scenes of simulated sexual activity between women.

'It is also difficult to understand why, if forwarding the email and attachments was intended to do no more than share a verbal joke about Leeds, he should choose to send the email to only one employee, a junior female employee.'

The judge added that the photos had gone far beyond a play on words and it was more likely that Mr Williams had sent them to Mr Wise and Mr Poyet as he considered, rightly or wrongly, that they would appreciate being sent such material.

In his judgement, Mr Justice Lewis said the forwarding of the email to the trio amounted to a sufficiently serious breach of the implied duty of mutual trust and confidence as to entitle the club to dismiss Mr Williams without notice.

Mr Williams had also sent the email to former Leeds manager Dennis Wise (left), and his ex-assistant Gus Poyet, who is now head coach at Sunderland

It was simply incompatible with his role and duties as a senior manager at the club, the judge added.

He also ruled that the sending of the images to a junior female employee might well have caused offence, and left the club vulnerable to a claim for sexual harassment.

And forwarding the images via an email address containing the phrase 'leedsunited' might have led to negative press coverage and affected the club's ability to find or retain sponsors and supporters, according to the ruling.

It was also not compatible with Mr Williams's role of providing advice and guidance, and acting as an example, to those young people whose football career he was nurturing.

Mr Williams was refused permission to appeal although he can renew his application directly to the Court of Appeal.

He was ordered to make a payment to the club of £45,000 on account of legal costs.

His lawyers said that he would be pursuing a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal.